Friday, June 24, 2011

AMERICA, CANADA AND MEXICO: A TALE OF THREE ECONOMICALLY DIVERSE COUNTRIES.

… AMERICA DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO SOLVE ITS PROBLEMS WITH MEXICO! – PART I.

By Mansor Puteh

If America does not know how to solve the problems they have with Mexico, which one of the closest neighbors whose history was intertwined with its own for so long, then what chance is there for America to take lead to solve other problems in other parts of the world?

If Canada had been backward, America would have helped them to become developed. But since Mexico is a ‘colored’ country, what use does America have to help them?

Most of the countries in South America are almost in the same situation as Mexico. Yet, the irony is how close Mexico to America is and how all of the others including America are also in the same region that bears the name, America – North America and South America.

Yet, Mexico and the other countries in South America are so very far away from America in all terms.

The only luck that any of the countries in South America has is that none is a Muslim country.

If there is one country in South America is Muslim, chances are, it would have been attacked and destroyed first before Afghanistan and Iraq.

It is also ironic how despite being Catholic and Christian, the countries in South America including Mexico are not treated fairly. Professing the same religions as the majority in America does not have any advantage.

In fact, adopting American ways, too, is not an advantage to them or anyone else. America does not want copycats; it only wants to dominate.

But who’s to blame?

Top brains and strategists of America do not know how to stop the many Mexicans who are involved in drug manufacturing and trafficking and the many others who want to enter the country illegally.

Here’s how they have all failed America.

America sits between Canada in the north and Mexico in the south. It is a strong magnet to those whose country is economically backward, but not so much to those whose country is not so.

Canada is not a bad country, economically. But Mexico is definitely not an advanced or developed one.

So over the years, many Mexicans especially those living near the American-Mexican border have tried to smuggle themselves into America, to seek employment and a better way of life, not that they like America more or Mexico less.

There are many other Mexicans who are involved in drug manufacturing and trafficking whose main market seems to be America, where there are many who consume the commodity which is not found in great abundance in the country.

I crossed the American-Mexican border on foot when I got to El Paso in Texas. I stopped midway on the bridge and stared at the stone mark which says on the right is America and the left is Mexico where each of my feet is standing at.

So at that time, half of me was in each of the country. Below is the wide river which was closed by fall fences on both sides of the border.

El Paso is not exactly a typical city in America; it has many Mexicans. But economically it is still comparatively better off than the city across the border in Mexico which Cuidad Juarez or JuarezCity.

One immediately sees the differences between the two border cities of America and Mexico and realized quickly how attractive it would be for many Mexicans to want to cross the border, although they may not be able to walk on foot and flashing my passport like I did.

I returned to America a while later, walking on foot but entering through another entrance further down where many cars and other vehicles from Mexico are being stopped for custom and immigration checking.

This was in April, 1999, two years before 911, so going in and out of America and back into the country was not difficult, especially for someone holding a Malaysian passport.

I got a good idea of how Juarez looked like, and could tell how this city is often reported in the Malaysian news on television especially on drug smuggling activities by the Mexicans.

In fact, all the stories that are reported in the Malaysian media not only on Mexico, but of the other countries in South America are drug related. South America gets bad press in Malaysia, and none of the countries which have their diplomatic missions have done anything to change this perception of their respective countries. They seem to be happy with that image.

Unfortunately, there have been quite a few South Americans who had also come to Malaysia carrying drugs with them and getting caught in the process.

I would later cross back into Mexico from San Diego and got to Tijuana and stayed there for a few hours before returning back to San Diego.

The scene in Tijuana is no different than in Juarez, except that Tijuana is a larger border town and there were more vehicles at the entrance.

I later traveled on the Greyhound to few more major cities in America before ending up in Toronto, Canada.

The scene at the immigration point at the American-Canadian border is different compared to that at the two border towns in Mexico.

And there are hardly any case of Canadians trying to smuggle drugs and also themselves into America, to seek employment and a better life.

The reason being Canada is a far developed country compared to Mexico.

However, things can change drastically if the economy of Canada tumbles and if the economy of Mexico rises.

If this happens than one can see not many Mexicans who will want to deal in drug manufacturing and smuggling into America, or to seek employment in the country.

On the other hand, there will be many Canadians of all ages, who will want to enter America illegally to seek employment even if they have to get jobs as store hands and in the factories, like what many Mexicans are willing to do today.